Where Was Jesus Born in the Ancient World?

Born In Bethlehem?

When was Jesus born and why in Bethlehem? Jesus was born in 5 or 6 BCE to his parents, Mary and Joseph. Mary was engaged to be married to Joseph, but before the marriage took place, while she was still a virgin, she became pregnant with Jesus through the power of the Holy Spirit (Mt. 1:18-25). Joseph planned on divorcing Mary quietly after she gave birth to the child, as he believed, at first, that she was unfaithful. An angel arrived and informed Joseph that the baby was from God, and Joseph decided to stay with Mary. Because of a census during the time of the Roman emperor Augustus, Mary and Joseph had to travel to Bethlehem, where she gave birth in a manger (Luke 2:1-7). Joseph was a descendant of King David, and the ancient home of David was Bethlehem. According to Micah, Bethlehem would be the birthplace of the Messiah (Micah 5:2) and thus prophecy was fulfilled. Joseph and Mary were living in Nazareth, to the North, and traveled to Bethlehem for the Census. If one looks at the map below, Bethlehem is close to Jerusalem, which makes Jesus’s circumcision easily accessible, as that happened in Jerusalem when he was 8 days old. The second photo is zoomed out for one to see where this all fits in the larger territory.